Improvement in folding chairs



H. B. SMITH. Folding-Chair.

No. 213,700. Patented Mar. 25,1879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

HIRAM B. SMITH, OF PHILADELPHIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO FRANK S. DIPPERY, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 213,700, dated March 25, 1879; application filed December 12, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HIRAM B. SMITH, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvem ents in Chairs, of which the following is a specification:

The aim of my improvements is to provide a folding chair which shall combine the qualities of simplicity, strength, and cheapness with the capacity of folding into a very small compass, and also to provide a convenient adjustment on the rest or support for the legs and feet.

To this end the invention embodies a number of novelfeatures, as hereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 of the annexed drawings gives a side elevation of my improved chair in an extended position, and Fig. 2 is a view of the same when folded. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the leg and foot rest removed.

As shown in the drawings, my improved chair is preferably mounted upon rockers a a, as shown; but in cases where a rocking action is not desirable the rockers may be replaced by straight bars, thus forming a flat base, on which the chair may firmly rest.

A A indicate the front legs, which are elongated to form side arms, which are extended to the chair-back, as shown. The lower ends of these legs are pivoted to the front of the rockers or' flbase-bars, as shown, while the upper ends are pivoted to the chair-back, and capable of sliding in a slot, 0, therein, and abont'glmidway between their ends they are pivoted toZthe seat at or near the center thereof, as shown.

The lower extremities of the side bars, 01, of the back are pivoted, as shown, to the back end of the side bars, I), of the seat, and alittle above the top line of the seat-bars, as shown, so that the back and seat can fold close upon each other, like the leaves of a hinge, as shown in Fig. 2.

Where the back joints to the seat the ends of the seat-bars are provided with metalliolugs 0, between which the ends of the back bars, 01, are pivoted, as shown, which forms a light and strong joint. What is known as the paper-file hinge may, however, be used instead of the lugs.

The back legs, f, are pivoted at the lower ends to the back of the rockers, and at their upper ends they are pivoted to the lugs c, at the same point that the back joints to the seat, as shown. I

It will be seen that while this jointing is simple it is such that these several parts fold more harmoniously and compactly than would be otherwise possible.

It will now be seen that the relative form and jointing of the several parts of the chair are such that the parts fold backward from the front end of the rockers, so that the entire chair folds within the length of the rockers, each part folding down in close contact with the other, so that the thickness of the folded chair is but the sum of the widths of the several side bars, thus bringing the folded chair into a Very small compass, and rendering its carriage or transportation very convenient, as shown in Fig. 2.

When the chair is extended, the pivots in the top of the legs or bars A strike the end of the slots in the back bars, as shown in Fig. 1, and limit further movement of the parts, the chair then assuming a firm position to receive the sitter.

I generally prefer to provide the rockingchair with a leg-rest, which adapts it also as a reclining or steamer chair. This leg-rest, as shown best in Figs. 1 and 3,is formed, as usual, of anumber of jointed sections, 9 h z, arranged to fold up under the seat, as shown in Fig. 2. The upper section or leaf of the leg-rest, hpwever, is arranged to slide in guides on the under side of the seat, as indicated in Fig. 1, so that the leg-rest may thus be projected more or less from the seat, to suit either adults or children,'as will be readily appreciated.

Another novel feature of this leg-rest is the adjustable foot-rest D, which is capable of bein g moved back or forth on the middle section, so as to be also adjustable for adults or children. The foot-rest is provided with pins k k, or similar devices, which. engage with a series of holes, I l, or other engagements, on the leg-rest, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, by which it is retained at the desired adjustment.

Another feature of the leg-rest consists in the roller B on the foot of the rest, which supports the same upon the floor, and, as will be seen, permits the free oscillation of the rest under the rocking action of the chair.

It will be observed that the construction of the chair is such that most all its parts are formed of straight stock, which has the advantage of rendering its construction quite simple and cheap, at the same time being light and strong, which, with the advantages of great com pactness and ease of action, renders the invention an important improvement in this class of chairs.

I am aware that in a former patent granted to myself August 20, 1878, and also in a patent granted to I. N. Dana, October 11, 137$,a fore leg is shown extending diagonally from the rockers to the back; but these cases are both clearly distinguished from my present device, in that the fore legs, A, of my present invention are pivoted at their middle to the rigid seat, and slide at their upper ends in slots on the back, while in the first-named patent the seat is flexible, and the fore legs are accordingly not pivoted thereto, and in the other case the middle of the fore leg is not pivoted to the seat, and, furthermore,its upper end does not work in a slot in the back.

\Vhat I claim is The combination, in a folding chair, of a rigid back, a rigid seat, rigid rockers or basebars, and rigid back legs, with the legs or bars A A, pivoted between their ends to the rigid seat, with their lower ends pivoted to the rockers or base -bars, and their upper ends pivoted to and capable of sliding on the chair back, substantially as shown and described.

HIRAM B. SMITH.

Witnesses:

()HAs. M. Ilmems, EDWARD ll. WALES. 

